Two students receive CLAWS awards at December board meeting

Ricardo Gonzalez Guevara

Ricardo Gonzalez Guevara

Trenton Rhodes

Trenton Rhodes

Ricardo Gonzalez Guevara and Trenton Rhodes were recognized as Bear CLAWS recipients at the University of Central Arkansas Board of Trustees December meeting. 

CLAWS, an acronym for Celebrating the Lofty Achievements of our Wonderful Students, is awarded to one or more exceptional students or recognized student organizations during regularly scheduled board meetings. 

Guevara is a senior health administration major from Van Buren. He began his UCA journey as a Project X-man and worked in the Office of Diversity and Training. Later on, he became a mentor in the Minority Mentorship Program. 

Guevara is a member of the Latino Student Association. He served as secretary before becoming president in 2021. This role earned him the President of the Year Award in 2020 from the Office of Student Life. 

In addition, Guevara is a resident assistant, a participant in Launch Conway, a senator in the Student Government Association and president of Sigma Nu. He is also a UCA Ambassador and has helped launch the Spanish tours initiative.

Throughout his time at UCA, Guevara has organized food drives for the Bear Essentials Food Pantry, highway cleanup and the Greek Goddess Philanthropy event for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. 

Rhodes is a sophomore music education and music composition major from Booneville. He is a Dean’s List scholar and member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity. 

Rhodes has performed with the UCA Wind Ensemble, the UCA Concert Choir as Tenor One and the UCA Trumpet Ensemble. He has written music for many genres and difficulty levels, including concert band, jazz band, orchestra and various solos and ensemble works. 

Rhodes will have one of his many compositions for trumpet and piano performed at the 2023 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Minneapolis in May. His piece, “Solitude,” was chosen as one of 15 new works from 156 entries from around the world.